I've started a modest campaign of writing query letters to traditional publishers to find a home for the 3rd edition of The Joy of Bocce. At the same time I'm investigating print-on-demand outfits. If I choose the latter, the book should be out for Christmas. If I land a traditional publisher, the finished product won't be available earlier than late 2010. Got any connections with publishing houses? Experience with print-on-demand companies? Please REPLY.

Reminder: Our 5th annual Martignetti Family Charity Bocce Tournament is set for Sunday, October 11, 2009 at the SportsZone in Derry, NH. This year the proceeds will benefit the Michael J. Cleary Fund.

The fund honors First Lieutenant Michael J. Cleary, a U.S. military munitions expert who was killed during valorous service in Iraq in 2005. More details below - for now, please mark your calendar and join us if you can. This is a great event that has raised money for great causes like The Jimmy Fund, Joey Fund, Alzheimer's research, and kidney disease research.

Sam from Four Sams Concrete Generations (Scranton, Pennsylvania - http://www.foursams.com ) has an idea for a decorative bench for home bocce courts.

"Here is the first draft from the artist. Being a player, I already want one in my own yard. I got the thumbs up from Bocce Wines in California because it's the old label of their wine. The side of the bench could be some bocce balls. I would really welcome feedback at foursams@yahoo.com .

Wine, Cheese and Traditional Concrete are part of whenever and wherever friends gather. SALUTE! MANGIA!"

Click the image to the right for a better look. And please give Sam some feedback via his email - foursams@yahoo.com .

Sandro Martignetti sends a request for help with this year's charity bocce tourney...

Dear Family and Friends,

I am writing to invite you to participate as a volunteer for this year's Martignetti Family Charity Bocce Tournament. It is hard to believe that we are in preparation for our fifth annual tournament. With the support and hard work of so many, we have raised nearly $120,000 over these past four years. Our funds have supported research for children with cancer (Jimmy Fund) and cystic fibrosis (Joey Fund), and they have also supported research into ground breaking work on kidney disease and Alzheimer's disease.

Proceeds from this year’s tournament will be donated to the Michael J. Cleary Fund, which honors First Lieutenant Michael J. Cleary who was killed during valorous service in Iraq in 2005. Michael, a true American hero, lost his life at the hands of a roadside bomb. The goals of the Fund include supporting causes in the community that Michael gave his life supporting, aiding wounded veterans, helping families of our fallen heroes, and supporting other organizations which support OUR U.S. veterans. Plus, we hope to bring awareness to the daily sacrifices made by our servicemen and women in keeping our country safe.

If you have volunteered and supported the bocce Tournaments in the past, I thank you and hope that we can count on your support and assistance once again. If this is the first time you have been asked to volunteer, I hope that you will consider my invitation to participate. I have attached a rather extensive task list. Please look it over and let me know where you can help. Among the many possibilities -- acquiring sponsors, putting together a team to play in the tournament, acquiring raffle prizes and auction items, helping with registration, set-up of tables and chairs, assembling the bocce courts, running of the kids' activities, etc. We are also open to any ideas you may have to raise additional funds and to make the bocce tournament a fun and fulfilling experience for all involved.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to seeing you on October 11. (Details of the event can be found at http://www.bocce4charity.us .)

Sincerely,
Sandro Martignetti

{If you are going to be in the neighborhood of Derry, New Hampshire and can help, please REPLY to SandroMart@aol.com . If you can make a contribution, please send to MFCBT c/o Martignetti Enterprises, 29 High St., Woburn, MA 01801.}

"Being the pioneers that you and I have become. I offer this brief outline of the safety rules when playing the sport of bocce on structured courts. To my knowledge in our extensive promotions careers, I don't believe this has been published."

First: warm-up exercises.

It is important to have warm-up exercises before playing bocce. This is a universal rule for every player no matter what the sport. Stretch those muscles in order to avoid serious injuries like 'pulled' or 'torn' muscles. There are basic exercises available from the World Bocce League.

Second: wear proper approved bocce shoes endorsed by the USBF and WBL. THIS WILL PREVENT UNNECEESSARY SLIPS THAT WILL CAUSE STRAINED MUSCLES WHEN HITTING OR VOLOING ON THE COURT.

Third: when picking up a ball make sure that you have complete control of the ball. You should be on the court only when ready to roll or throw the ball and after your opponent has completed his/her roll.

Fourth: make sure that the bocce court is clear from foreign objects and that the surface is free from material that will cause slipping. Some synthetic courts have too much sand or material that may cause slipping.

Fifth: refrain from marring the courts. Especially refrain from putting heavy objects on or cutting the synthetic material. When playing on clay or carpeted courts, be careful not to disturb the surface.

Sixth: ALL team members should stay off the court and refrain from talking or making noise while another player rolls.

Seventh: Observe the time limit for completing your turn. When discussing the play with your captain, the accepted time is not to exceed 2 minutes.

Eighth: before going to the bocce rack, make sure that you will not interfere with teammates or opponents.

Ninth: don't carry on long conversations with outsiders or engage in activities that are not directly concerned with bocce. You owe it to your teammates and your opponents to keep your mind on the game.

Tenth: control your temper. Do not give up easily, for everyone likes a real competitor. But once beaten, take your defeat with good sportsmanship and learn from your mistakes.

"In regards to Debbie Leonardo’s input from Ruby Hill’s Bocce club - Being a neighboring Bocce facility, I would like to offer a home and home challenge between the top players of each club, It would be great to add the camaraderie and sportsmanship with a little bit of bragging rights to boot!

Campo di Bocce of Livermore vs. Ruby Hill with the losing CLUB buying dinner for the group!

We could do many different formats to have the best teams compete. I believe the best format would be four teams from each club competing in a round robin tournament at Campo di Bocce of Livermore with the top two teams from each club playing the finals at Ruby Hill.

This would be similar to the format used in the North American Championships. The only difference being we would be playing open Bocce and not Punto, Raffa, Volo.

I will be more than willing to coordinate this monumental event!"

Mario Veltri chimes in with "Let’s do it. They have good players at Ruby Hill, and it would be a joy to play with them."

"Almost 2 years ago I built a 10 X 60 bocce court in my yard. I used stone screenings as my playing surface. As the leaves and pine needles fall on the court I usually blow them into a corner and then scoop them out. The problem I’m having is that some of the surface also blows into the corner with it and it is nearly impossible to separate in a timely manner.

I guess I’ve grown tired of this ritual and now am wondering about a solution to this. What do you think? Do you know any reputable artificial turf vendors in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area. Is this something I could possibly do myself to save cost? Is there anything else I can do to my current surface to prevent this crazy process of blowing, sifting, re-spreading, and re-packing? Your insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks!"

{I'm hoping a reader has dealt with this problem and can offer a suggestion. Also, anyone know about artificial turf in this area? REPLY and I will get the word to Bill or contact him directly at William.Vanore@L-3Com.com .}

"While playing at the well organized Rome tournament a few weeks ago, I observed one of the most absurd rules that still exists, but this one champions them all.

Points cannot be measured if the opponent has no more balls to roll.

Two teams were tied at 15 - 15 (another silly rule is to play to 16) and there were opposing team's balls that referees were unable to determine without measurement who had the winning point.

One of the teams still had two balls to play and had no choice but to play them, trying to take the point and win the match. In this attempt, they pushed in one of the opponents' balls and gave away the game.

{I agree that this is a very bad rule. I don't know what the rules makers were thinking to justify such a ruling. Let's measure and see who's IN. If you are IN, I'll try to beat your point. If I'm IN let's shake hands and congratulate each other for a fine game.

This rule is like rolling the dice. I can take a chance and not roll my last two balls, hoping that my unmeasured ball is IN. Or I can roll the dice and play the last two balls hoping to better the existing point(s). Either way it's a crap shoot.}

To protect the public, 5 plus feet of fence are surrounding the majority of the courts and balls or pallinos that hits them are valid, as backboards are alive (what a combination for unexpected results). I saw a similar situation several years back at beautiful Pontelandolfo Club in Connecticut. {View "Ponte Club" photos here: http://www.joyofbocce.com/Ponte.ivnu .}

{That's the state of the game today. We play the rules of the host when we visit them. USBF Open Rules are gaining a foothold, but as yet do not have the widespread acceptance many of us want for tournament play.}

With regard to courts, they are barely 60 feet long by 9 feet.

{It seems like the farther east you travel, the smaller the courts.}

While some of the courts surfaces are acceptable, some are rough, heavy, and uneven, making pointing quite difficult for any newcomer.

Rome tournaments have a huge turnout with several hundred players for the men's and women's competitions playing in a 'fair-like environment' (nice people and very good food). Unfortunately, they allow players to be in the court with a bottle or a glass of beer/liquor in their hands.

Organizers should discourage this behavior that does not help the sport of bocce (they can drink all they want outside when not playing).

{We want to pair bocce with fine foods and fine wines. We don't want it associated with fast food and a brewski like bowling. But, for tournament play, let's keep the food and drink off the courts.}

The current plan is to keep the 2nd edition in print, while updating and tightening the new edition to make it more helpful to the average player and the person interested in learning the game. Of paramount importance for the new edition are an attractive, high impact cover, high quality images throughout, and simple, easy-to-read chapters for beginners and devotees.

Still need a foreword from someone with a pretty high profile – am attempting to contact John Madden and Steve Mariucci regarding this. They are not only high profile, but they love bocce.

Please feel free to comment and help shape the new edition.

Looking for high resolution photos (300 dpi) of the following:

great looking bocce courts
lawn bowls play
petanque play
kiss the fanny image

Send to Mario@joyofbocce.com along with your name for proper credit and permission to reprint. Thanks.

We can schedule the potential $ tournament mentioned in a recent issue for November of 2010 instead of August. Is that a better date for people with fewer events scheduled around that time? Do people want to come to Massachusetts in November?

Worcester is located in central Mass. within driving distance of Boston, Springfield (site of the Basketball Hall of Fame), and Providence, RI. The venue would be the DCU Center which has a massive carpeted ballroom which could easily house 10 or more bocce courts.

I thought I'd run this by the readers to see what kind of initial response it generates. To my knowledge there has never been a large prize money bocce tourney in New England. Players could fly into Logan. Worcester is about a 50 minute car ride from Boston.

We could have a reception for the players on Thursday night followed by bocce action on Friday and Saturday and perhaps a closing banquet on Saturday evening. The entry fee would include hotel and other amenities. Hotel check out could be Sunday morning for those who need to get back to work on Monday.

We'd line up other activities for friends and family (trip to Boston, perhaps a bus to one of the Connecticut casinos, etc.).

What do you think? If the prize money was large enough, do you think we could draw enough 4-player teams to make this work? Please REPLY with comments, suggestions, or questions.

"I just wanted to let you know about an upcoming tournament in the Toronto area. It's one that I'm really looking forward to as it is my own club, Toronto 777 Bocce, that is hosting it. Joe Defillipis is the club president and it looks like he is on the right track on making this a great annual event.

The attached link is the Application but below I've highlighted some of the details.

{Met with Paul recently and can recommend him to you without reservation. He's spending what should be his retirement years giving back to the community by sharing his cruise earnings with various charities.}

She writes..."Jim McLaughlin, Commissioner of the Altamonte Springs Senior Bocce League asked me to send you a few photographs for 'The Joy of Bocce Weekly'.

Here is the Altamonte Springs, Florida Senior Bocce League History. It all started when senior citizens of the city of Altamonte Springs, Florida approached the city to inquire about the establishment of bocce courts at one of the recreational parks. Tony Rossi, along with his wife Palma, approached the city in 1994 and the Altamonte Springs, Florida Senior Bocce League was established in 1995.

Two Har-Tru courts were built at the Westmonte Recreational Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Tony and Palma were elected as the founding president and vice president of the league. They established a ten team league that began play in 1995 and continues to this day. Seasonal play is from the first week in October to May of each year and is concluded with divisional playoffs. Social events for the league include an annual Christmas party and an end of season awards dinner."

{It's great hearing about bocce programs! Let's hear about programs in your area. Please send photos. People LOVE seeing courts and bocce play from around the country!}

Choose the Clubhawk Gold, Henselite Bowls, or Premier Boule Measure. You can't go wrong with any of the three choices. Once a bocce aficionado has a set of bocce balls and my book, the next logical acquisition is a first-rate measure.

Each retails for $26.95 plus $5.00 shipping and will be shipped US Priority Mail.

Please - anyone running a tournament - do me a favor - put a notice near your tourney bracket board informing players that they can go to http://www.joyofbocce.com and "opt in" for my FREE Ezine on bocce. Click the logo to the right to opt in if you do not already receive this ezine every Monday.

Please consider designating someone as "official event photographer" and directing that person to send snapshots for us to reproduce as photos of the week. Our readers love seeing bocce action from around the continent.

Check out the first-rate equipment we offer. The finest measuring devices for bocce (made in UK by Prohawk for lawn bowling, petanque, and bocce) - the finest bocce balls in the world (made in Italy by Perfetta) and the number one selling instructional book on bocce in America - Check them out.Check out the merchandise